A Burning Ember of Hope
by iheartBL
Summary: They had made a unanimous decision all those years ago to return to their roots, to the place they had grown up, and the place they called home. After all, he had always said, there was only one Tree Hill, and he had made her believe it.


A/N: Here I am again with an attempt at a one-shot that most likely will have a sequeal. God I miss Brucas so much. The timeline is completely AU, so events are squashed together left and right.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill and never will!

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A Burning Ember of Hope

"_Okay, we're not going to do this. We're not gonna get sad, nothing's gonna change now. We'll all be friends forever, I know it__." _

"_Look, in four years we'll be right back here. We'll be done with college or wherever we go. Right?" _

"_Yeah." _

Folding her arms, she walked across the pavement, mentally reading out the names they had spray painted onto the blacktop four years ago. They had made a unanimous decision all those years ago to return to their roots, to the place they had grown up, and the place they called home. After all, he had always said, there was only one Tree Hill, and he had made her believe it.

Her heeled boots clacked as she walked around the periphery of the old basketball court she had visited plenty of times thanks to a certain boy. They had all promised to return, all of them, but so far, only a few had kept that candle of hope lit. Lucas Scott, the one boy she was certain who would hold to that vow like no other, he failed her. He failed her time and time again. Maybe she should have known better, but then, why was that tiny flame in her heart still burning after all these years?

Halting in the middle of the court, her eyes turned towards the heavens. The night was chilly, the stars twinkling above providing a tranquil ambience, but lacking the warmth the sun could only give. She remembered this spot well. Eyes falling to the ground, her brain conjured the memory of when he told her. Her heart had nearly shattered, torn to un-repairable pieces. He had what she was afraid of. HCM. That disease, she now knew like the back of her hand. She'd been reading up on it since he'd divulged that secret, and whenever something new would come across the world of medicine in regards to said disease, she'd send him an email.

She wasn't sure if he ever read them, but she was sure he never replied, but still, she sent them. It was her one way of knowing that a part of her past was still alive. Maybe that's why that flame kept burning in her heart. Maybe.

For all she knew, Lucas Scott was living his happily ever after with the girl of his dreams in LA, or maybe it was Savannah, Georgia. Peyton always had a thing for Savannah, but then again, she'd had a thing for Jake too. The two of them together, they probably had a child named Sawyer between them. Peyton always loved the name Sawyer. Sawyer Scott, it left a strange taste in her mouth, but she figured it was just something to get used to.

And Brooke Davis, the girl he told was brilliant, beautiful, and brave, she was left here, masquerading as his friend once upon a time. Pathetic. Then again, at least the tabloid magazines didn't see her that way. They didn't see the loneliness that clawed at her while she was New York at the height of her fashion career, instead, they saw the facades she hid behind. The pretenses her mother put up for her.

So just to get away from all the lies, she opened up a boutique here, in her home, and she thought the rest would hold up to their promise. Haley and Nathan did, two friends that never failed her, and so did Mouth, the one guy she knew always to rely on, but the one that held all her faith…she should have known better.

"Aunt Brooke!"

Looking up at the sound of her name, she watched as her godson skittered across the pavement. It was uncanny how much he resembled his uncle. He could have passed for Lucas's son, but she knew all too well of the detailed features that resembled Nathan so much more. A smile naturally gracing her lips, she held her arms out for the boy, bending down so she he could catch her in a hug.

Embracing him, she asked, "Jamie, what're you doing here this late?"

"I could be asking you the same question," he answered wisely. He definitely inherited Haley's intellect. Watch out world, James Lucas Scott was coming.

Chuckling from his reply, Brooke let him go, standing up and folding her arms once more as the boy started trailing after her.

"Aunt Karen's leaving for New Zealand tomorrow," he answered with a giddy smile, "and she's going to bring me back presents."

Nodding, Brooke let out a smile. Jamie told her of the news she already knew, the reason behind Skillz sudden visit to Tree Hill, and why everyone was gathered at Karen Roe's. Brooke couldn't go there, that place, holding so many memories, felt rather suffocating. Maybe that's why she ended up here, at the River Court, staring at the faded names they had once etched onto the pavement with paint.

"Lily's sad," Jamie continued, "but happy to be staying with you."

Lily wasn't going along, not until preschool let out for spring break, so Brooke offered to look after her, and Karen accepted straight away. Besides, it gave Karen the perfect week to spend some quality time with Andy.

"Aunt Brooke," Jamie questioned after a moment of silence, "what are you doing here?"

Stopping, she swung around to face the little boy. The reason behind her trudge down memory lane, she was sure she didn't have an answer to that. "Reminiscing," she answered simply.

Jamie blinked, letting Brooke know it was a word that hadn't woven into his rapidly growing vocabulary.

Giggling, she replied, "I'm taking a trip down memory lane."

"Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders, pausing once more to glance at the names barely visible across the pavement. "We had a lot of fun here."

"I have a lot of fun here."

Turning to him, she asked the question that had situated itself on the edge of her tongue since his unprecedented arrival. "Jamie, how did you get here?"

"I ran."

"Jamie?"

Sensing her impatience, he smiled, "Uncle Lucas brought me."

At the mention of his uncle's name, she felt a chill run up her spine, causing her to remain rooted to her spot. Uncle Lucas? It couldn't be so. Opening her mouth, she found the next question unspeakable due to a metaphorical lump that had somehow risen in the midst of her surprise.

"Uncle Lucas, you can come out now." Grinning madly, Jamie turned in the direction he had originally appeared from, pulling his fingers forward as if to summon his relative.

It couldn't be so, a mantra that had now begun playing in her head as she gazed in the direction Jamie was smiling at. He hadn't come when Haley lost her mother, he hadn't come when his best friend had succumbed to depression, so why would he show up now? Nor had he shown up when she opened her boutique in _their_ hometown, so why would he show up now?

Did he come to gather Lily for a week? Did come to bid adieu to his mother?

Watching him emerge, she saw that he looked just as he did when she met him in New York for his first novel's publishing. It wasn't the cheer and the pride she saw in his eyes, it was the sadness. The same sadness lingering across his baby blues that had resulted from Peyton's rejected proposal.

"Hi," he uttered in a meek tone, hands stuffed into the pocket of his jeans as his long legs carried him towards she and Jamie.

First few buttons left undone and tie hanging loosely around his neck, she was reminded of the high school Lucas she used to date, the one that would come to the River Court for some extra practice before a game. So she smiled at the memory, and she smiled at him, because frankly, a smile from Lucas Scott was just that hard not to return.

"You're here," she mumbled in her usual raspy tone of voice.

He nodded, decreasing the distance between them still.

"Why?"

Letting out a huff of breath, he turned to Jamie a brief few seconds before his eyes returned to the brunette's face. It was the same question Haley had asked, it was the same one Nathan had uttered, and in the same bitter tone as well. He could go the easy route and answer the question point blank. He was here to say farewell to his mother, he was here to spend time with Lily. However, Lucas knew that wasn't the answer Brooke or anyone else was looking for. They wanted to know why now? Why not before? Why hadn't they come when they needed him? He wanted to, he so badly wanted to, but his stubborn persona had gotten the best of him. "I was ashamed?"

"Ashamed?"

Nodding, he gestured towards the bleachers, Jamie watching him curiously.

Following him to the seats, Brooke positioned herself in the second row with Jamie, while Lucas stood before them, looking distracted.

"Peyton left me two years ago."

Swallowing, the brunette felt the lump in her throat fall just a smidge. Peyton left, was that the reason behind the burning sensation lingering in her heart? Was that why he was ashamed to return home?

"She's in Savannah," he continued with a shrug of his shoulders, his hands never leaving his pockets, "with…"

He didn't have to finish his sentence for Brooke to understand, she knew the name he was going to mention before he ever did. Jake Jagielski. He had been the blonde's destiny all along. Standing up from her seat, she made her way over to him, arms held out for some comfort.

"They're getting married."

"Lucas," she whispered, leaving her internal debate and pulling him in for a hug, "I'm so…" Words trailing, she realized sympathy wasn't what he wanted, or what he needed. Friends, that's what he needed, and family, which in their cases had always been one in the same.

"I'm not, and it took me a few years to realize that."

"Thanks for coming home, Lucas."

"I'm glad to be here."

Burying her face in the crook of his neck, she felt herself become overwhelmed by his woodsy scent. It was one thing that was familiar, one thing that always remained the same about him. They may not have reconnected as lovers, but for now, friendship was more than she could ask for, and that mere thought was enough to settle that ember of a flame igniting inside her.


End file.
